Can you 'target shoot' at home?

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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Norton » 08 Aug 2014, 11:24 am

nickbarker wrote:go score you some nasty cheap Chinese made thing for 50 pounds and away we went.


Ah the good old days.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by yookehoo » 25 Jun 2017, 8:42 pm

FuzzyM wrote:You are only allowed to shoot targets on private property if you have a target licence. As a member of a target club.

However you are allowed to sight in a rifle on private property.

Just went through the licence process in Victoria myself.

It is frustrating as I also want to get my eye in on my 30 acre family farm, rather than go to Springvale with my .22.

I bought a Savage MkII, I was looking at the Marlin, but the savage feels better in my hands.

Note the minimum property size for hunting on private property to be your genuine reason on your license is 5 acres.

so if i want do target shooing ,i need to join a target club and get that licence?
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Lorgar » 26 Jun 2017, 11:52 am

yookehoo wrote:so if i want do target shooing ,i need to join a target club and get that licence?


Target shooting has to be done at a range.

You are allowed to sight in on private property, e.g. check your zero before commencing a hunt to ensure accuracy/human kills.

But you're not allowed to 'operate a range'. What exactly this constitutes is a big of a grey area, there isn't a fixed limit on how many rounds you can shoot before it becomes a range. Annoying but that's what it is.

As far as ranges go, I don't know where you are in Victoria but e.g. there is the 50m .22lr range in Springvale.

Or the 500m range at Little River where you can shoot (almost) anything.

Google SSAA ranges or shooting ranges in your area.

You don't need a club membership to shoot at the SSAA ranges, you just need to be licensed, or under the direct supervision of a licensed person. It's just pay per visit, but if you're a member it's cheaper. So depends on how much you go if it's worth it.

I don't go to the range much these days so haven't got a membership. I have 'hunting' as my genuine reason on my license which allows me to do that, and attend ranges with no membership.

You could do the same if that suits your circumstances.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by <<Genesis93>> » 26 Jun 2017, 1:42 pm

Lorgar..... shuddup .... go and have a coffee break mate :drinks:

so if i want do target shooing ,i need to join a target club and get that licence?


Exactly right.
I'm sure the extract from the regs is in here somewhere...
But Yes, it doesnt really make sense, but TARGET shooting (no such thing as sighting as far as the law goes) on Private property is OK, provided you dont advertise and dont charge $...and comply with back stop and other conditions including a TARGET shooting endorsement...
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by <<Genesis93>> » 26 Jun 2017, 1:43 pm

PS awesome revival 3yrs.... record perhaps...
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by sungazer » 26 Jun 2017, 2:26 pm

The way i read the act is if you have less than 5 people and are more than 250 meters from a dwelling/house then you can set up targets and shoot for up to 3 hours straight.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by bladeracer » 26 Jun 2017, 5:36 pm

sungazer wrote:The way i read the act is if you have less than 5 people and are more than 250 meters from a dwelling/house then you can set up targets and shoot for up to 3 hours straight.


That's my interpretation and I emailed Firearms - they agreed with me...on the phone...but have ignored two requests for it in writing.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Bourt » 27 Jun 2017, 10:55 am

sha wrote:So many videos on youtube of bird hunting with air rifles from UK guys.


I think a big part of that is there licensing and laws.

Crazy strict firearms laws and limits.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by <<Genesis93>> » 27 Jun 2017, 4:57 pm

sungazer wrote:The way i read the act is if you have less than 5 people and are more than 250 meters from a dwelling/house then you can set up targets and shoot for up to 3 hours straight.


As I recall, the 5+ relates to the 'notice to police' requirement, else there is NO limit on how many can be involved :thumbsup: :drinks:
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Ben78 » 27 Jun 2017, 7:55 pm

I phoned the NSW FAR on this a couple of years back, and you are allowed to 'practice' on private property, or at an approved range, without having target category on your licence. I am a member of local range and have shot thousands of rounds there, only have Rec Hunting on my licence.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by bladeracer » 28 Jun 2017, 12:18 am

Ben78 wrote:I phoned the NSW FAR on this a couple of years back, and you are allowed to 'practice' on private property, or at an approved range, without having target category on your licence. I am a member of local range and have shot thousands of rounds there, only have Rec Hunting on my licence.


Victoria Firearms told me the same thing a few months back, but wouldn't email me it in writing.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Dunxy » 28 Jun 2017, 3:32 pm

Gday all, new to firearms and just found this site today and stumbled upon this thread (because Its relevant to me) and i feel i have to add a couple of things!

Lorgar wrote:
yookehoo wrote:so if i want do target shooing ,i need to join a target club and get that licence?


Target shooting has to be done at a range.



I cant find anything in the firearms act that says target shooting must be done at a range, rather i find info saying you CAN target shoot on private property as long as the property is suitable.

Firearms ACT 1996 wrote:(5A) If one of the reasons for the licence is sport or
target shooting, the holder must not engage in
sport or target shooting except—
(a) at an approved shooting range; or
(b) on land owned by the holder, where the
activity is being carried out in accordance
with the regulations; or
(c) on land not owned by the holder, where the
owner of the land has given permission for
the carrying out of the activity and where the
activity is being conducted in accordance
with the regulations.
]


So as part C clearly states, if you hold a target licence you CAN target shoot on (suitable) private property as long as you have land owners permission or as part B describes if you own said land.

On topic but not relating to quoted post:
I also find NOTHING mentioning anything about people holding licences for hunting not being allowed to shoot targets on private property?

Also, I couldn't find any rule about this "5 person 3 hour" stuff ive seen mentioned?

If any Victorians know of the rules outlining these other 2 previously mentioned claims, please point me to page in the act, because I word searched the whole document and found nawt relating to them.I will be target shooting on a mates farm and want to ensure i am following all laws.

Regardless of what regular members of the po-po say, the firearms act is the law, anybody after proper advice should contact local DFO rather than just asking a general officer (or worse, relying on internet forums!) who may not actually know the law!.Or you can just read the ACT as i have done.

Not ragging on anybody, im just trying to make sure i obey the rules and to clear up some obvious mis conceptions that could possibly turn of new people considering the sport, maybe these rules apply in other states (im Victorian so im researching laws apply to me, not other states, sorry guys!) or years gone by, the paragraph i quoted about target shooting on private property is DIRECTLY FROM THE FIREARMS ACT 1996 page 294 so is absolutely accurate, not word of mouth or something some bloke said.

As a person who has recently completed the safety course and testing i was very underwhelmed by the scope of information provided by instructors,unless you know what questions to ask and actively ask them, there's so much information they don't cover AND that the handbook doesn't cover, the only way to find it is ready the 300 od page act or contacting local DFO (mine grumbled at me for asking a couple questions and pretty well told me to read the ACT! Your results may vary!), which is stupid IMHO. Its exactly the same in the fishing community, so i guess i shouldn't be surprised!
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by yookehoo » 28 Jun 2017, 10:46 pm

bentaz wrote:
<<Genesis93>> wrote:
sungazer wrote:The way i read the act is if you have less than 5 people and are more than 250 meters from a dwelling/house then you can set up targets and shoot for up to 3 hours straight.


As I recall, the 5+ relates to the 'notice to police' requirement, else there is NO limit on how many can be involved :thumbsup: :drinks:

We had up to 20 shooters on my birthday and the shooting went for about 12 hours straight, with a good burst the evening before and a fair bit more on the sunday too.
According to my local police as I'm not charging people or advertising theres no problems.

how big your land is ? and how to measure the distance? is it from the point of where u shooting to where the house will be?
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by bladeracer » 29 Jun 2017, 1:03 am

Dunxy wrote:Also, I couldn't find any rule about this "5 person 3 hour" stuff ive seen mentioned?

If any Victorians know of the rules outlining these other 2 previously mentioned claims, please point me to page in the act, because I word searched the whole document and found nawt relating to them.I will be target shooting on a mates farm and want to ensure i am following all laws.

Regardless of what regular members of the po-po say, the firearms act is the law, anybody after proper advice should contact local DFO rather than just asking a general officer (or worse, relying on internet forums!) who may not actually know the law!.Or you can just read the ACT as i have done.

Not ragging on anybody, im just trying to make sure i obey the rules and to clear up some obvious mis conceptions that could possibly turn of new people considering the sport, maybe these rules apply in other states (im Victorian so im researching laws apply to me, not other states, sorry guys!) or years gone by, the paragraph i quoted about target shooting on private property is DIRECTLY FROM THE FIREARMS ACT 1996 page 294 so is absolutely accurate, not word of mouth or something some bloke said.

As a person who has recently completed the safety course and testing i was very underwhelmed by the scope of information provided by instructors,unless you know what questions to ask and actively ask them, there's so much information they don't cover AND that the handbook doesn't cover, the only way to find it is ready the 300 od page act or contacting local DFO (mine grumbled at me for asking a couple questions and pretty well told me to read the ACT! Your results may vary!), which is stupid IMHO. Its exactly the same in the fishing community, so i guess i shouldn't be surprised!



The information you are requesting is all contained earlier in this thread.
A problem with referring to the Firearms Act and the Firearms Regulations (two separate documents), is that you aren't always looking at the very latest information. You also need to trawl the Police Firearms webpages and documents linked from there.
It is never a bad idea to request email confirmation from your local DFO as they're most likely to be the guys you'll be dealing with if there's a problem.

http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/LTObject_Store/LTObjSt6.nsf/dde300b846eed9c7ca257616000a3571/09c184d87048bd4aca2579ff00167754/$FILE/96-66aa064%20authorised.pdf

Section 22 of the Regulations covers target shooting on private property.
http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/LTObject_Store/LTObjSt7.nsf/b1612aeaf0625227ca257619000d0882/51898447f261697fca257a7e000bfece/$FILE/08-22sra002%20authorised.pdf
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Dunxy » 02 Jul 2017, 12:07 pm

TYVM Bladeracer, nice to read the exact wording of the rule/s.

So many people have no knowledge of this rule, i have multiple friends who been shooting up to 20 years each and they had no clue and even disputed the truthfulness of it.

The buggers do not make it easy for us it by having both the act and regulations!
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jul 2017, 1:17 pm

Dunxy wrote:TYVM Bladeracer, nice to read the exact wording of the rule/s.

So many people have no knowledge of this rule, i have multiple friends who been shooting up to 20 years each and they had no clue and even disputed the truthfulness of it.

The buggers do not make it easy for us it by having both the act and regulations!



The Regulations only came into effect in 2008, I don't know that there were any such restrictions prior to that.
It is so poorly worded that I suspect you could put it in front of ten different English teachers and lawyers and get ten different views of what it means.
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Re: Can you 'target shoot' at home?

Post by Shoot_Responsibly » 29 Dec 2021, 11:37 am

In Victoria, you will need to check with the Local Council,
They can provide you the necessary information from operating a small private gun range at home withitn specificied hours,
to the EPA noise requirements around your property and how far and how loud any noise may travel from repeated gun shots.
It may be perfectly Ok for an owner to give permission to shot on their property and then the Council/EPA to come along and shut things down.
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